Call For Submissions: Time To Send In Your Weddings!

Congrats, you're wed! Tell us about it!

Next month is Feminism month (cue Kermit arm-flail). Which means we’re not even going to bother you with the standard submissions call. You know what to do. We’ll just be here patiently waiting for the awesome to continue rolling in.

Instead, we want to remind everyone that it is fall. Which means that a ton of APW readers just got married. This is the time of year when we collect most of our wedding graduate and wordless wedding submissions, and stockpile them for winter and the beginning of next year. So head over here and make it happen.

It’s also the time of year when you guys have the most to say about your new marriages. So while we’ll be sure to tackle the important topics like merging finances and sharing household tasks and what to do with the holidays that are approaching way too damn fast thankyouverymuch, we also want to hear what you have to say about these things. And don’t be afraid to let us know what topics you want covered. Some of our best posts come from suggestions in the comments and emails we get from you guys. Keep ’em coming.

As always, here are the tips and tricks for submitting your story to APW and getting it published:

One of the first questions we’re asked when we talk to people about submitting is post length. While we don’t have any requirements exactly (we got poetry last month! We loved it!), essays between 600–1800 words are usually the ones that make it to the front page. Exceptions are always made, so don’t let those numbers keep you from writing what you need to write. If something is too long or too short, but we love the concept, we’ll help you edit it into something we can publish.

Next, one of the primary characteristics we look for in submissions each month is a connection to a universal idea. We’re all writing from our personal experiences here, but if you can take that experience and make it something that other people are going to relate to, then we’ve got magic. But that doesn’t mean every post needs to have a big moral or overarching theme. Sometimes the most universal stories are the simplest ones.

As always, our themes are meant to serve as a guideline for submissions, but they aren’t rigid. Do with them what you will! For example, if next month’s theme is “Feminism” but you really need to talk about merging finances, then we want to hear what you have to say. We’re always after diversity of experience here, so the most important thing is that you write something that is authentic to you (particularly if it’s a perspective we haven’t heard from in a while or at all).

Also, when you’re submitting for the monthly theme, we don’t want you to feel as though you have to frame your story around the theme itself (i.e., “What feminism means to me…”). Heck, you don’t even have to include the name of the theme in your writing at all. Just write what you would normally write, and we’ll figure out if it’s a good fit for the month, or if maybe it would be a better fit for later in the year.

Lastly, if you have something you just have to get out there into the world, but it doesn’t fit with the theme for the next month, please send it in anyway. Our top priority is always strong content, regardless of the topic.

And that’s it! So if you have a story to share about what you’ve learned, send it on in!

oooh how timely! I watched my ‘How We Did It’ submission upload for five hours (shitty internet in the Yukon? Maybe my pictures were too big?) last night, and it finally completed at midnight. Well, I think it got completed.. it took me back to the Submission page, at least. I wrote on this month’s theme, but I doubt you will be able to squeeze it in before October starts! I was just inspired by recently getting my photos back (which is apparently, the best feeling ever?)

Aside from writing a post for you guys, I also spent the weekend writing Part One & Two of my July Gulf Island wedding for my own little blog. The huzz came home and I was in a daze, mumbling “Let’s never talk about our wedding again…”

XO

meg

Bad news! I don’t see it. (Also, it shouldn’t take you back to the submissions page). Do this: just submit it again as text only (and if that doesn’t work, email us at team at a practicalwedding.com with the text), and put a note that you have the photos. Then we’ll chat with you about how to get them, which probably means sizing them down, and putting them in drop box. Yay!

http://thebeejays.blogspot.com Joann

I tried again. And again! One of those tries should have made it…. thanks for letting me know the earlier one didn’t!

http://thebeejays.blogspot.com Joann

It did take me back to the ‘Submit a Wedding Graduate’ post, however…. so. Should it say something like ‘submission received’?

Rebekah

Sidenote: I’ve really enjoyed the monthly themes. I know there are changes coming next month, but I do hope that you continue to have intentionally focused groups of posts next year, whatever form it might take.

meg

Aw, with you trying to be nice with, “intentionally focused groups of posts.” Monthly themes are staying, and it’s all going to be organized much better. Hurrah!